Patriotic Front deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri says the ruling party will use people defecting from the opposition UPND to identify the weaknesses of Hakainde Hichilema.

Speaking when she received 85 defectors from the UPND at the PF secretariat in Lusaka yesterday, Phiri said Zambians no longer had confidence in Hichilema.

“This spirit of not wanting to work with new members just because you have been in the party for some time should come to an end. If you truly love Michael Sata then let us emulate him because with Michael Sata there was no difference between someone who has been in the party for long and those who are new. So you in the district leadership here in Lusaka, make sure that you accommodate these people because they have left their positions in the UPND where they are coming from. Identify them and filter them in from Kanyama where they have come from so that this party can grow. I am sure they have left because they have seen that their president (Hakainde Hichilema) is a liar,” Phiri said.

And Mumbi said the PF would use those who were defecting from UPND to identify HH’s weakness and capitalise on it.

“If you want to defeat an enemy, you must go into their territory. In order for us to know the weaknesses which the UPND and its leader has, we are going to penetrate through these people (pointing at the defectors) and we are going to play a better game and I am glad that you (the defectors) have realised. I think its because of the BCC interview that you have realized that there is nothing that he can do for you,” said Phiri.

Meanwhile, the defectors who were led by Danny Tembo, a former UPND ‘commando’ asked all PF members to welcome them and accept them as part of the PF family.

“We have joined PF because we want to work with you. We joined UPND sometime ago because we thought that PF hated us but we have realised that you actually care about us and you love us. Please welcome us because we are part of you, we understand that there could be those among you who would not be willing to work with us right now but we will work hard and persuade you to finally accept us and be willing to help us. While in the UPND, our job was to protect people’s lives like myself I was one of the ‘commandos’,” said Tembo.